


Safe

by bccalling



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Season/Series 04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-27
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-09-20 05:28:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9477587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bccalling/pseuds/bccalling
Summary: Mickey's essentially moved into the Gallagher house. It doesn't take Fiona long to figure out why.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Set in s4 sometime after 4x08 and before 4x11.

When Fiona wanders into the kitchen, she finds Mickey sitting at the table, flipping through a magazine and nursing a cup of coffee. It’s still pretty early, but most of the Gallagher clan has already headed out for the day. Ian’s upstairs sleeping off a late night at work, but otherwise it’s just the two of them.

“Hey, Mickey,” Fiona offers in greeting, earning her a half smile and a little wave from Mickey.

She smiles back and pours herself a cup of coffee before sitting down near Mickey, watching him closely. She knows he has a lot on his mind, baby drama and all, and she’s not exactly sure what went down there, but she knows it’s not as simple as Mickey knocking up some random hooker. And yet somehow he seems so carefree and happy here in her home.

She’s glad for that, and she wants him to know that he’s safe here with the Gallagher clan.

“So, uh, you and Ian have gotten pretty close, huh?” She’s trying for subtle. Won’t come right out and say it. That’s not her place.

Mickey looks uncomfortable for a moment, fingers picking nervously at the corners of the magazine in front of him. He takes his time, measuring his words carefully for a second. She thinks for a moment that he might give in and just tell her. She’s not that lucky, though.

“You could say that,” he answers carefully. He’s watching his words, trying not to be obvious, but his tone is more open than she was expecting, and that’s something.

“Things bad at home?” She questions gently. Maybe a different approach would help.

Mickey scoffs with a shake of his head, and he looks a little angry. Possibly not the right approach then.

“Look, if you want me out of your goddamn house, just fucking say so, all right, and I’ll fuck off.”

She should have known that was the wrong way to go. “Hey, Mickey,” she offers softly, reaching out to lay a hand on his forearm. It doesn’t work as planned, though, as he snatches his arm away from her just this side of violently. She lifts her hands in surrender. “Listen,” she tries again, “you’re welcome here as long as you need, okay. I just thought we could talk. Get to know each other a little if we’re gonna be living under the same roof. You’re important to Ian, okay, and that makes you important to me. You’re a good friend to him.”

And, okay, that was kind of manipulative. But she gives him a little half smile to try to cover for it.

It takes Mickey a minute, but the tension rolls out of his shoulders slowly, and he relaxes back into the chair. He’s thinking, she can tell, trying to choose his next move carefully.

“Not exactly friends,” he finally admits quietly, eyes downcast and fingers picking at the magazine pages again. “Not just, anyway. It’s more than that. _We’re_ more.”

She smiles genuinely at him, offering up as much reassurance in her gaze as possible. “I know,” she tells him.

Mickey catches and holds her gaze for a moment, but he doesn’t react, really. A bit of tension returns to the way he’s holding himself and she sees a brief flash of concern shift over his eyes, but that’s all. He holds himself together better than she was expecting.

“You’re safe here, Mickey. You and Ian. You can be together. You don’t have to hide here, in this house. No one here is going to judge you. No one here is going to take anything beyond these walls,” Fiona promises gently, keeping Mickey’s gaze and smiling at him softly.

After a moment, he gives a brief nod of acknowledgement, eyes softening and tension releasing again. “You really won’t tell anyone?” Mickey questions cautiously, a touch of fear hiding behind his eyes.

Fiona gives him another reassuring smile and reaches a hand out to cover Mickey’s. This time Mickey doesn’t pull away. “It’s not my secret to tell.”

Mickey takes a deep breath, and nods a little. She’s not sure, really, if it’s going to make a difference, but she wants him to know he’s safe. That he and Ian are both safe here, and they don’t have to hide.

It takes a minute, but his face quickly melts into confusion. “How’d you figure it out, anyway?” he questions. She's amused that he’d honestly thought they were being subtle.

She lets out a little huff of a laugh at the question and shakes her head a bit at the incredulous stare she receives in return. “You’re not exactly subtle with the jealousy, man. With Ian working at the club, you’re wandering around here like a damn guard dog, spitting out jealous little quips about his clientele every few minutes. It’s cute.”

Mickey rolls his eyes and gives her a sneer as Fiona continues to laugh. Because it is cute.

“Fuck off,” he finally throws her way. The words don’t have much bite. If she didn’t know better, she’d think they were playful.

Fiona spots Ian then, wandering around the corner slowly, and she wonders how much he heard. He approaches Mickey, quietly, but she knows Mickey must hear him. She watches silently as Mickey leans into Ian before Ian even reaches him. At the gesture, Ian smiles fondly and slips his fingers through Mickey’s hair, pulling Mickey to his side gently. Mickey’s lips tip up in a little smile, and he nuzzles into Ian’s touch. Fiona watches Ian sigh in relief at the openness in Mickey’s demeanor before he leans down to press a kiss against Mickey’s hair.

“Told you you were safe,” Ian whispers, and it’s just for Mickey, but it reaches Fiona’s ears and brings a little smile to her lips. “We can be together here, Mick. You don’t have to worry. We don’t have to outright tell them all if you don’t want to, but we don’t have to hide, either. Okay?”

As Ian speaks, Mickey’s eyes drop to the table in front of him before lifting warily to watch Fiona for a moment. She can tell he’s nervous—trying to make a decision in that moment about how he wants to play this. It’s endearing, really.

After a moment, Mickey takes in a shaky breath before his eyes lift to Ian’s, and he beckons Ian closer with a crooked finger as he whispers a quiet _c’mere_.

Ian’s face breaks into the brightest smile Fiona’s ever seen on him as he leans down to meet Mickey’s lips. The kiss is short, tender, and full of all the love she knows they feel for one another. Her lips tip up again—because she knows this whole exchange couldn’t have been easy for Mickey, and she can’t help the surge of pride she feels over it—Fiona stands and gives Mickey’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

“I’ll give you two some alone time,” she tells them brightly as she heads toward the stairs. Her little brother’s finally home and happy, and Fiona can’t help but feel like Ian has made a good choice in Mickey Milkovich. It wasn’t long ago that she would have imagined herself insane for such a thought, but when they’re together, Mickey and Ian bring out the best in one another. She finds herself wanting that for both of them.

As she reaches the bottom of the stairs, she hears Mickey call to her softly. “Hey, Fiona?” he asks quietly to catch her attention.

She turns back toward him, smile still in place, and brow raised in question. “Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

It’s soft, but sincere, and she finds herself smiling a little wider. She gives him a little nod before disappearing up the stairs to leave the two in peace.


End file.
